Good Business Sense or What?

Last night, at a bus stop, I got chatting to a bus driver about to start his shift. He was waiting for the bus I wanted. He said the bus was running a few minutes late. He said it's quite acceptable for buses to be late. The driver is paid overtime. But woe betide any bus driver who arrives early, he'll soon get the sack for his incompetence.

The driver said the controllers, who keep tabs on them to ensure all buses are run on schedule, get bonuses when buses are run on time. However, as bus drivers get paid overtime when the buses are late at the end of their shifts, it is not in drivers' best interest to run their buses on time. Why would they want to line their superiors' pockets?

I asked the driver to explain why drivers of the bus route I use frequently can't make up their minds what stop to terminate at. Sometimes bus drivers terminate at the tube station and sometimes at the next stop, where they are officially meant to terminate. The driver said it may very well have to do with whether a bus driver is running early so he will prolong the journey; or whether his superior wants him to be on time, so the driver ends up dumping passengers at the tube station.

What about us customers? What about our needs? The driver shrugged. It's all about making money not about customer services. Hehehe.